Preliminary fauna survey of belah and cypress/box woodland near West Wyalong NSW and recommendations for forest management

Summary

Sixty-five vertebrate fauna species were recorded from Belah Woodland and adjacent Cypress and Box Woodland within Back Creek State Forest, fifteen kilometres north-east of West Wyalong in New South Wales. Eighty six percent of all fauna recorded were found in the Cypress/Box Woodland, and sixty percent within an almost pure stand of Belah Woodland. Vegetation descriptions suggest that the greater percentage of fauna within the Cypress/Box Woodland could reflect the more diverse vegetation and faunal microhabitats within this type as well as its more extensive distribution within the forest.

Several forest management recommendations are designed to conserve the vertebrate fauna on Back Creek State Forest without unduly impinging on current State Forest management practices.